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Jackson, MS-Big plays were the trademark on Saturday afternoon at H.T. Newell in a 49-21 win by Belhaven over Lindsey Wilson College on a hot day in Jackson, MS. The Blazer offense was certainly hot as well rolling up 546 yards of total offense in the win. All of Belhaven's scores came on plays of 24 yards or more with the exception of a five yard touchdown run by Barry Johnson. The Blazer defense did their part as well limiting the Blue Raider offense to only 277 total yards.

Belhaven (3-1), coming off a tough loss last Saturday at Mississippi College, got on the board first thanks to a 77 yard touchdown pass from Alex Williams to Cordario Calvin. It would be the first of three touchdown catches by Calvin on the afternoon and the first of five touchdown tosses by Williams in the game. However, Lindsey Wilson (1-2) regrouped quickly following a 46 yard kickoff return by Richard Kennedy that set up the Blue Raiders at their 47 yard line to begin the drive. Four plays later the game was tied on a 32 yard touchdown pass from Greg Young to Matt Powers with 8:17 remaining in the first quarter.

It didn't take long for Belhaven to pull back in front as Michael Pettus took the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to the house for a touchdown. James Bryan's kick was good and just like that the Blazers led once again by seven 14-7. With just under seven minutes left in the first half, Belhaven dialed up another big play as once again Williams found Calvin on a long touchdown pass. This time it went for 58 yards on the first play of the drive. Belhaven punched it in again with 2:52 to play on the second quarter clock on Johnson's five yard touchdown run. It capped off a five play 65 yard scoring drive that saw a 30 yard pass from Williams to Kyle Henry to set up the score.

The Belhaven defense then held and forced a three and out from Lindsey Wilson placing the ball back in the hands of the Blazer offense at their own 40 with 40 seconds left. Belhaven used 38 of those seconds and on this drive it was Kevin Dizer's turn to shine as he made a couple of big catches on the way to the end zone. Williams found Dizer for 36 yards and then it was Dizer again making the catch for the final 24 yards for the score. The extra point extended the Blazers edge to 35-7 as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime.

Eleven minutes would elapse off the third quarter clock before Belhaven would strike again. The Blazer defense stopped the Blue Raiders on a fourth and six play from the Belhaven 45 giving the offense great field position. Williams then found his favorite target for the third time in the game as he delivered a 42 yard touchdown pass to Calvin pushing the Blazer lead to 42-7.

Lindsey Wilson came back to score the next two touchdowns with the first coming on a 25 yard fumble return by Martin Dietrich off a fumbled punt return by Lamar Truman with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter. Belhaven gave the ball back to Lindsey Wilson on a fourth down run by punter Jacob Chancellor that came of short of the first down marker and the Blue Raiders promptly turned it into seven more points. Quarterback Ricky Bowling engineered a five play 60 yard drive that used 2:46 on the clock. The drive was capped off on Powers second touchdown reception of the game this time from 42 yards out.

Belhaven then stopped the Lindsey Wilson rally on their next possession taking the ball 72 yards on eight plays for their seventh touchdown of the game. Williams completed four more passes on the drive with the fourth resulting in a 25 yard strike to Michael Pettus making the score 49-21. Neither team would get on the board during the final nine minutes of the game as Belhaven went on to lock down the win.

Williams had a huge game for Belhaven completing 20 of his 35 pass attempts for 377 yards and five touchdowns. On the season, he now has 11 touchdowns and boasts a 60.1 completion percentage. More importantly, Williams has taken care of the football with only two interceptions through the first four games of 2010. Calvin also came up big for the Blazers on Saturday as he hauled in seven receptions for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Calvin leads the Blazers with six receiving touchdowns and is averaging 97.8 yards per game. Dizer made four catches for 72 yards and added another touchdown giving him three on the year.

Johnson was the leading ground gainer for Belhaven carrying the ball 10 times for 81 yards and a touchdown. As a team, Belhaven had 158 yards rushing on a total of 27 rushing plays. The Blazers once again had great field position as their average drive started at their own 38 yard line.

Defensively for Belhaven, Marquis Browdy notched 10 total tackles and had one tackle for a loss against the Blue Raiders. Ricky Wadlington had nine tackles with one going for a loss while Dirkyle Hall who saw his first action of the year logged five tacks with 2.5 for a loss. The Blazers, who were ranked fourth in the NAIA in sacks coming into Saturday's game, added four more against Lindsey Wilson. Carlos Young, Hall, Jack Hayes, and Chad Smith each had a sack. Jarrard Sterling and Jerien Cole each had an interception which was his first of the season for both players.

"It's always good to get a win, but we still have a lot of work to do," said Belhaven Head Coach Joe Thrasher. "Offensively I felt we moved the ball well at times and Alex (Williams) and Cordario (Calvin) were on the same page and it showed. It was also good to have some freshmen contribute big like Michael Pettus who really impressed me with the kickoff return and his receiving touchdown. Defensively Sterling played well and we were able to do a few new things with our front four. Dirkyle Hall is a freshmen who had a solid game for us on the defensive line."

For Lindsey Wilson, quarterback Ricky Bowling completed nine passes for 108 yards and a touchdown. Matt Powers was the Blue Raiders leading receiver hauling down six passes for 104 and two scores. Richard Kennedy carried the ball seven times for 46 yards while Bowling added 32 yards on 10 carries. Lindsey Wilson could only muster 165 yards passing and 112 yards on the ground against a tough Belhaven defense. On the defensive side of the ball for the Blue Raiders Sam Wilson led the way with eight tackles followed by Stanley Johnson with seven. Dietrich had six tackles and the 25 yard fumble return for a touchdown.

Belhaven will be back in action on Saturday afternoon October 2nd when they are back at home in the annual Homecoming game against Bethel University at H.T. Newell Field. The kickoff is slated for 1:30 PM and all the play-by-play action can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website beginning with the pregame show at 1:15 PM.